In the first major foreign policy speech of his presidency, Trump’s tone was notably softer than the harsh rhetoric about Islam that characterized his election campaign. Reading from prepared remarks, he spoke of the “peace and tolerance of all faiths” and praised the Middle East’s beauty and culture.

It is human nature to want to find quick solutions to the problems that confront us, from poverty and unemployment to prejudice and terror. It follows that we would be tempted to believe those who assure us that simple remedies lie close by. Yet, the tragic reality is that it is precisely this instinct that leads to extremism.

Restructuring the program to omit white supremacists and other non-Islamist groups “would severely damage our credibility with foreign allies and partners as an honest broker in the fight against violent extremism, and prove divisive in communities across our country,” Senators Cory Booker, Brian Schatz, and 10 others wrote in a letter addressed to cabinet secretaries.

The program, “Countering Violent Extremism,” or CVE, would be changed to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism,” Reuters sources confirmed, and would no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States.

There is a reason officers who know what they are talking about do not use the expression “radical Islam.” It tars an entire faith and it contributes to creating the religious war Trump fears. The Muslim ban will make us less safe; worse, it erodes our democracy and contributes to making us a fear-and-hate-filled, divided nation at war with the world and progressively ourselves.

“One thing is true. I believe that in almost all religions, there is always a small fundamentalist group. We have them, too,” said Francis. The pope added that people who chose to join extremist groups, such as ISIS, make such choices because they “have been left empty” of ideals, work and values.

Would Gingrich use the same logic to prosecute visitors to white supremacist websites like StormFront, or anyone who uses the hashtag #whitegenocide? Right wing extremists commit terrorism, too — just as much as any radical cult. Does Gingrich want thought police?

“Barack Obama does not define the terror issue clearly. Here’s why.” So began a bizarre rant from Bill O’Reilly on his show last night, in which the Fox News anchor accused the president of not addressing ISIS because of his sympathies to the religion distorted by the Islamic State.

At an emotional memorial service at a Louisville sports arena, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal, Ali’s wife Lonnie and leaders of many of the world’s religious traditions delivered powerful tributes to the man who Clinton called a “universal soldier for our common humanity.”

John Dickerson asked the real estate mogul, “Isn’t there sort of a tradition though in America that we don’t judge people by who their parents were and where they came from?” “I’m not talking about tradition,” Trump responded. “I’m talking about common sense, OK?”

Muhammed Ali, who called himself “The Greatest” — and many agreed — has died at age 74. An icon of the 20th Century, Ali’s boxing fame was amplified by his political activism, his commitment to Islam, his humanitarian work, and his charismatic persona.

The would-be presidents vying for the Republican nomination consistently serve as useful idiots, their declarations of hostility to Islam only alienating that faith’s billion followers here and abroad, while in no way advancing our security.

In the wake of the Brussels attacks, political pundits around the world have engaged in yet another round of discussion about the compatibility of Islam and the Western world. One of the new terms out of this latest process is “Reform Muslim,” which, like the term “moderate Muslim,” is an invention, offensive to the vast majority of Muslims who are neither reactionary, conservative, nor incapable of living among others.

The zoning meeting, in a community room packed beyond capacity, was intended to focus on traffic, lighting and parking impacts from a proposed building. But the building in question was a new mosque — and the meeting occurred four days after the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Every imbecile who threatens Muslims is an unwitting agent of ISIS; in fact, it would be unsurprising to learn that ISIS itself is covertly promoting such messages in order to intensify enmity between the peoples of the Quran and the rest of the world.

Iran demanded an apology from Saudi Arabia on Sunday over the deaths of 769 people at the haj pilgrimage and accused it of trying to evade blame, while Riyadh in turn accused Tehran of playing politics with the disaster.